Only a few years ago, I considered From Software’s Dark Souls series, and its spiritual successors, to be utterly unapproachable. It took a lot of poking, prodding, and watching Let’s Plays before I got the nerve to jump into the series. But now, they’re are some of my favorite gaming experiences of all time. Fast-forward…
Top 10 Games 2019 – #5: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
As it turns out, there have been a lot of star wars games over the years. I’ve played virtually none of them. This mostly because I’m just not that into Star Wars, and so many of these games hinge on investment in the franchise. That isn’t to say that they’re not good games in their…
Ashen and the Anatomy of a Soulslike
It’s impossible for me to assess Ashen and its design decisions in a vacuum. This is partly because it wasn’t created in one: elements of its story and design are direct responses to their analogues in the Souls series. Ashen demonstrates how the Dark Souls formula provides a backdrop for interesting ideas, but can also obscure or dampen a game’s own identity….
Death’s Gambit is an Intriguing 2D Soulslike
It’s a new week, and a new Metroidvania released. This one is Death’s Gambit, the debut release from developer White Rabbit. Except, it turns out, that Death’s Gambit is even less of a Metroidvania that Dead Cells, which I reviewed last week. While it does feature a large, interconnected world with unlockable shortcuts, it does not have…